The Chargers are concerned enough about Nick Hardwick not being able to start the season that they are targeting veteran center Jeremy Newberry for a possible signing after June 1, numerous sources confirmed.

Newberry is an unrestricted free agent, but he would not count against the Chargers when it comes to getting compensatory draft picks next year if they sign him after June 1.

No deal is in place, sources said, but the Chargers are the front-runners for Newberry's services.

The Oakland Raiders would be able to keep Newberry from the Chargers by tendering him a contract offer June 1. If an unrestricted free agent does not sign with a new team before June 1, his former team holds his rights until July 22.

yes. 6'3'' 315 lb. Played C, G, and T. 2-time pro-bowler. bad *** and a leader. But most importantly, when healthy, is a STUD. Even did well for the pathetic Raiders. Not only helps us as tremendous depth (better than Shelton by a lot), but hurts a division rival.

yes. 6'3'' 315 lb. Played C, G, and T. 2-time pro-bowler. bad *** and a leader. But most importantly, when healthy, is a STUD. Even did well for the pathetic Raiders. Not only helps us as tremendous depth (better than Shelton by a lot), but hurts a division rival.

And I hear he's healthy.

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I think it would be a good signing for us for him to fill in for Nick, and then be a spot starter, and backup.

Yeah, pretty hard for a fat guy to hike the ball when his hands are all slippery from all the ding dongs. Plus, I hear he always has some salsa hanging from his lip. Chin strap is always kind of pinkish.

Yeah, pretty hard for a fat guy to hike the ball when his hands are all slippery from all the ding dongs. Plus, I hear he always has some salsa hanging from his lip. Chin strap is always kind of pinkish.

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Good for him, I hope he makes it back.

He was one of the most dominant run blockers that I have ever seen.
I think the mixture of a greedy evil wife, lots of cash food and attention, and youth (he was really young to come into the NFL) made him lose his way. Of all the guys who went knucklehead in the NFL, he's one of the few that I'm still pulling for.

Look at all the money that has been thrown around to crappy OL the last few years. Journeymen have gotten some pretty big deals.

Shelton and Newberry are just patchworks for depth. They might not even be decent depth. Just because they are a name doesn't mean they still have game.

I'm not holding my breath for either one of them being worth a ****.

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I'm not going to write of Newberry yet. I think there is such a negative stigma attached to the Raiders right now that nobody wants to believe anybody on the team has talent.

Case in point... Randy Moss for a 4th round draft pick...

Talent disappears in Oakland, and the organization is so ****ed up that the players themselves are looked upon as incapable losers. So this guy could be the Randy Moss of Centers and nobody wants him 'cause he's wearing Silver and Black.

Also consider that the article mentions that if we wait until the end of the month to sign him it will NOT effect our compensatory picks next year. We might have had a deal in place with this guy the first day of free agency and just be waiting for the right time to have him sign on the dotted line.

Looks to me like he just might be ready to make something of himself?...... :icon_huh:

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Man, when Fonoti was focused he was devastating. I wish he would have still been a Charger but I think he had several issues, not just the evil wife. I think it was more mental issues I think. Being real young and having the pressures of having an "evil" wife, family and the NFL might have been too much for the young man. Plus, it seems like he didn't skip many meals being the big Samoan he was. I know a lot of Samoans and they don't skip many meals. BIG boys those Samoans. Great people and family oriented though. I hope he does get his act together. Just not against us in game one!

I'm not going to write of Newberry yet. I think there is such a negative stigma attached to the Raiders right now that nobody wants to believe anybody on the team has talent.

Case in point... Randy Moss for a 4th round draft pick...

Talent disappears in Oakland, and the organization is so ****ed up that the players themselves are looked upon as incapable losers. So this guy could be the Randy Moss of Centers and nobody wants him 'cause he's wearing Silver and Black.

Also consider that the article mentions that if we wait until the end of the month to sign him it will NOT effect our compensatory picks next year. We might have had a deal in place with this guy the first day of free agency and just be waiting for the right time to have him sign on the dotted line.

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Everybody knew Moss had talent and he was dogging it in Oakland.

I don't know if Newberry was dogging it, or if he's at the end of the line, age or injury wise. If he was still playing at a solid level, then someone would have thrown good money at him when free agency opened up. Same with Shelton.

I don't buy the "he was on a bad team" arguement that everyone throws around for every player from a losing team. It might be true for one or two guys, the Randy Moss' who aren't professional enough to give it their all for the team. Those guys quit when the going gets tough. Is that the type of player we'd want anyway?

All I'm saying is don't be surprised if Newberry and/or Shelton are complete stiffs when we watch them in preseason. Age and injury and past suckiness.

I don't know if Newberry was dogging it, or if he's at the end of the line, age or injury wise. If he was still playing at a solid level, then someone would have thrown good money at him when free agency opened up. Same with Shelton.

I don't buy the "he was on a bad team" arguement that everyone throws around for every player from a losing team. It might be true for one or two guys, the Randy Moss' who aren't professional enough to give it their all for the team. Those guys quit when the going gets tough. Is that the type of player we'd want anyway?

All I'm saying is don't be surprised if Newberry and/or Shelton are complete stiffs when we watch them in preseason. Age and injury and past suckiness.

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I wouldn't be surprised if they suck, but I'm not expecting it.

But seriously... everybody DID NOT know Moss had talent and was just doggin' it. Unless I'm terribly mistaken half the board predicted that he was washed up and would destroy the Pat's locker room. Whoops!

And generally speaking I totally agree about the "just played on a bad team." argument... it's weak. But I'm just saying that there is a massive anti-Raiders players sentiment pretty much throughout the NFL right now and the guys on their roster are literally worth less simply by virtue of their uniform. Playing on a ****** team doesn't justify ****** performance, I was just trying to offer up an explanation for how this guy might be a talent and yet other teams are not lining up to sign him.

But seriously... everybody DID NOT know Moss had talent and was just doggin' it. Unless I'm terribly mistaken half the board predicted that he was washed up and would destroy the Pat's locker room. Whoops!

And generally speaking I totally agree about the "just played on a bad team." argument... it's weak. But I'm just saying that there is a massive anti-Raiders players sentiment pretty much throughout the NFL right now and the guys on their roster are literally worth less simply by virtue of their uniform. Playing on a ****** team doesn't justify ****** performance, I was just trying to offer up an explanation for how this guy might be a talent and yet other teams are not lining up to sign him.

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I think we hoped Moss was washed up and would destroy the Pats locker room. But we KNEW he was dogging it in Oakland.

Shelton only had interest (at least according to press reports) from the Lions before he signed with San Diego. I haven't seen if anyone has had interest in Newberry. Has anyone read a good accounting of their play last year? I haven't seen anything written on Newberry, but the stuff on Shelton suggests he played rather poorly at OT the last few years (but did okay at OG).

The ****** team excuse gets floated out there everytime a guy moves from one place to another. Hell, sometimes it's not a ****** team, but a perceived ****** coach (even when the team has a good record). I read 49er forums after we swapped Davis for WR Woods, the the 49er fans said SD has "******" DB's lately because of coaching, and Davis would be great there. SD fans said SF was ****** so Woods would have a chance to shine here. Nope. Both players were ****** all by themselves. The ****** team excuse is a needle in the haystack occurrence, not status quo for all player movements. People use it way too often.

Again, I'm not saying Newberry and Shelton will suck. I don't know. I am saying that no other team was throwing big FA dollars at them, and there has to be a reason for that. We're getting both on the cheap, and most likely, we'll be getting what we're paying for.

I don't know if Newberry was dogging it, or if he's at the end of the line, age or injury wise. If he was still playing at a solid level, then someone would have thrown good money at him when free agency opened up. Same with Shelton.

I don't buy the "he was on a bad team" arguement that everyone throws around for every player from a losing team. It might be true for one or two guys, the Randy Moss' who aren't professional enough to give it their all for the team. Those guys quit when the going gets tough. Is that the type of player we'd want anyway?

All I'm saying is don't be surprised if Newberry and/or Shelton are complete stiffs when we watch them in preseason. Age and injury and past suckiness.

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There is no downside to signing him to a contract with a make clause and incentives. If he is healthy, he's worth a low risk look. Wouldn't sign him to more than a one or two year contract with that make clause, but I would give him a signing bonus due in the first year and a larger make bonus split between the first and second years structured so there is no cap hit if he's cut loose. We need depth, and if Lester (I'm assuming that's the L in LJ unless it Llewelyn) and Newby are healthy, then we have some useful guys to compete and either make the squad or push they guys we have. AJ signs guys with multiple layers of intent. It's a good thing for Boris Spasky that AJ wasn't a chess addict. I would sign the guy. Oben is on his last legs, Goff has begun to fade. As uncertain as we were about our O Line before the draft, we now have some logs on the fire to warm our tootsies on.

There is no downside to signing him to a contract with a make clause and incentives. If he is healthy, he's worth a low risk look. Wouldn't sign him to more than a one or two year contract with that make clause, but I would give him a signing bonus due in the first year and a larger make bonus split between the first and second years structured so there is no cap hit if he's cut loose. We need depth, and if Lester (I'm assuming that's the L in LJ unless it Llewelyn) and Newby are healthy, then we have some useful guys to compete and either make the squad or push they guys we have. AJ signs guys with multiple layers of intent. It's a good thing for Boris Spasky that AJ wasn't a chess addict. I would sign the guy. Oben is on his last legs, Goff has begun to fade. As uncertain as we were about our O Line before the draft, we now have some logs on the fire to warm our tootsies on.

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I do agree that there is little or no downside to signing both Newberry and Shelton. I'm just saying the the expectations should be lower than most fans think.

Oben is done. While I don't have first hand knowledge, I know a couple reputable people that have spoken to him and he said he's finished.

Goff had his best year as a Charger last season, and that was fighting through some really bad injuries. I've never been a fan of his overall athleticism, but he's the toughest SOB on this team. He played through some unpublicized injuries, and even the ones that were reported (torn thumb especially) the write ups on it don't do justice to have bad it was. I do think this is his last year here, but we'll see. As far as I know, there has been no news about an extension and 2008 is the last year on Goff's contract.

Man, when Fonoti was focused he was devastating. I wish he would have still been a Charger but I think he had several issues, not just the evil wife. I think it was more mental issues I think. Being real young and having the pressures of having an "evil" wife, family and the NFL might have been too much for the young man. Plus, it seems like he didn't skip many meals being the big Samoan he was. I know a lot of Samoans and they don't skip many meals. BIG boys those Samoans. Great people and family oriented though. I hope he does get his act together. Just not against us in game one!

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he had one good year, one bad , one good year and then ate himself out of the league for a while. The hell with him, he couldn't take it in the NFL and he wants to get another big contract so he can probably eat himself back out of the league

I do agree that there is little or no downside to signing both Newberry and Shelton. I'm just saying the the expectations should be lower than most fans think.

Oben is done. While I don't have first hand knowledge, I know a couple reputable people that have spoken to him and he said he's finished.

Goff had his best year as a Charger last season, and that was fighting through some really bad injuries. I've never been a fan of his overall athleticism, but he's the toughest SOB on this team. He played through some unpublicized injuries, and even the ones that were reported (torn thumb especially) the write ups on it don't do justice to have bad it was. I do think this is his last year here, but we'll see. As far as I know, there has been no news about an extension and 2008 is the last year on Goff's contract.

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That's just it. Once the injuries begin to come in clusters at his age his time grows short. He might start for a while or continue to work as high quality depth. If he is healthy going into the season I have no problem with him starting. Athleticism is more critical for tackles, especially on the left side, because they play in space. Guards have to defend a more defined space where strength and balance are more important than the ability to bounce around. If I was deciding on a guard, I would be concerned about smarts sufficient to understand the playbook and the raw strength to shove people around. Give me a guy like that, a good dance instructor, and you can make a top flight guard. Goff is big, strong, tough and plays with a mean streak. Healthy, he is the obvious starter, but there is better untapped and undeveloped talent in the depth chart. The key to success in the O Line is to teach a guy to use his feet and to use his strength off his center of gravity. Goff has learned this through experience, but he is getting old. He has one more effective season as starter if he stays healthy this year, then he becomes a role player. We should be able to develop an interior lineman faster than a wide receiver or QB. I think the biggest obstacle is boredom and drudgery. The major obstacle is false bravado.